Orange County Department of Education
Nights of the Pufflings
Third graders read the story to identify the problem and solution that occurs in Night of the Pufflings. They identify problems within the story that are solved through the characters' responsible actions. Students describe in their...
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Digging Into the Past
Fifth graders study fossils and how they are charted. In this fossil lesson plan, 5th graders research the excavation process of discovering fossils, and view fossils. They then do a hands on activity that involves plastic fossils that...
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Real or hoax?
Seventh graders brainstorm a list of criteria that makes a webpage useful for research and not useful for research. They complete the activity, "Real or Hoax," and discuss fiction and non fiction stories and determine which websites are...
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Vanishing Rainforests: How can We Save Them?
Students focus in on the Amazon Rain forest. They research about various plants and animals that exist in our rain forests. Students develop knowledge of resources that come from our rain forests. They analyze the cause/effect of rain...
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Nature Art Exploration
Students draw a nature landscape using watercolors. In this life science lesson, students share their personal experience on the beauty of nature. They create clay models of different native animals.
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More Than a Campground
Fourth graders participate in a class disucssion on the term "habitat". The class brainstorms on what makes a national park special. In small groups, they research a a national park and create a mural depicting those factors that make...
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Animals: Dolphins
Students use the internet to discover information about dolphins. They examine their behavior, appearance and distribution of dolphins.
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The Great Kapok Tree by Lynne Cherry
With The Great Kapok Tree, by Lynne Cherry as the hook learners discuss the rainforest, the animals that live there, and conservation efforts. Then, students write a letter to the man in the story asking him not to cut down the Kapok...
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Water: Read All About It!
Students discuss newspapers and water and work in groups to develop their own paper focusing on water issues. In this journalism lesson, students discuss the value of newspapers and water as an issue. They work as a group to develop a...
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Do We Control Nature, or Does Nature Control Us?
Student examine the theme of man versus nature in art. In this man versus nature lesson, students examine various pieces of art and discuss the theme as it is depicted. They discuss whether the themes shown in the artwork are relevant...
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Bald Eagle Population Graphing
Students create graphs to illustrate the bald eagle population. They identify the population of bald eagles in Minnesota and the United States. They create three graphs to represent the population data including a line, bar, and...
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Scales, Scutes, and Skins
Students identify the various adaptations of reptiles and amphibians. After distinguishing between reptiles and amphibians, students discuss the ways in which their adaptations aid in their survival. They participate in a hands on...
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Acid Rain: Where Have All the Rainbows Gone?
High schoolers study the pH scale and sources of acid precipitation. In this acid rain lesson students complete a lab on acid rain then complete a handout.
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Animal Groups
Young scholars explore animal groups. In this animal science lesson, students use pictures from magazines and classify the animals into five categories. Young scholars share why they categorized the animals the way they did.
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Animal Camouflage
Students investigate how animals adapt to their environment. In this animal science lesson, students participate in an experiment using patterned paper and plain paper to simulate how animals blend into their surroundings. Students...
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Wood, I Like to Get to Know You
Students examine trees. In this tree activity, students create a model of a tree and its parts.
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How Animals Bond
In this animals lesson plan, students students write a description about a pet or animal that they know. They include details that would help someone who has never met their animal feel like they know it already. Artwork about their...
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The Brown Pelican Experts
Fifth graders compare and contrast adaptations of brown pelicans and examine how they survive in different environments. They also make predictions of some adaptations that could be needed in certain types of ecosystems.
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Birds of A Feather
Students observe and record the many types of birds they see in a month. They discover the many patterns birds follow and compare their results with other classrooms. They complete a field assessment as the final activity for this lesson.
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Turtle Hurdles
Young scholars participate in a simulation in which they discover the threats to sea turtles throughout the world. In groups, they act out the life cycle of a sea turtle and describe the stresses that threaten their survival. As a...
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White-tailed Deer: Beauty or Beast?
Students use study guides and videos to discuss the positive and negative impacts of white-tailed deer populations. In this wildlife management activity, students view slides and discuss the natural history and value of deer as a...
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Information Fluency Unit
Second graders create a proposal for the Science Spectrum to have an exhibit of a wide variety of aquatic animals for the children of the South Plains. These students would like to see aquatic animals up close.
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County Butterfly/Moth Poster
Students discover how to identify the butterflies or moths found in their Illinois County. They use the Lepidoptera database list to find the scientific names, searching field guides and the Internet for the common name.